Responses to young children in post-emergency situations

• the necessity of developing practice from the
children’s perspective that responds to their views
and concerns;
• ensuring that families support and are
themselves involved in activities to promote child
participation.
These two issues are integral to a resilience approach
and in turn enable an environment where children’s
rights are promoted and protected. Interventions
that incorporate the participation of the children
enable their active agency in their own development.
They are no longer passive victims of adversity.
Their involvement in the design and implementation
of interventions can prevent situations of risk, and
thereby violations of their rights, and go a long
way to enhancing their resilience. The involvement
of families will ensure that child participation is
integrated into community understanding of child
rights, and moves towards sustainable action to
promote and protect children’s rights.
To sum up
This editorial gives a framework within which the
articles for this publication may be understood.
As emergencies and disasters continue unabated,
so our own efforts to minimise their impact on
children must continue. If we could, for example,
stop the wars, we would. Reality is harsh, however,
and this means that what we are learning is based,
and will continue to be based, on the children’s
horrific experiences of total disregard for their
human rights. We do have a knowledge base, and
we are developing tools and strategies to work better
with and for children. As the article on Protecting
Children in Emergencies (page 10) emphasises,
however, there remains much work to be done on
the political project of implementing international
standards to promote and protect children’s human
rights. 12
Notes
1 See the arc Resource Pack on Separated Children
at . Although not
described in this publication, another effective example
of interagency collaboration is the Separated Children
in Europe Programme .
2 Kramer. J.Y. 2002. Child rights programming
– Experiences from Save the Children Norway. Paper
presented to the dsa ngo Study Group.
3 Child rights programming. How to apply rights-based
approaches in programming. 2002 International Save
the Children Alliance.
4 Cf. arc Resource Pack: Child and Adolescent
Development.
5 Lawday, A. 2001. hiv and conflict: A double
emergency. Save the Children, uk.
6 Cf. Cape Town annotated principles and best practice
on the prevention of recruitment of children into
the armed forces and demobilization and social
reintegration of child soldiers in Africa.
7 Cf. arc Resource Pack: Working with Children.
8 Cf. arc Resource Pack: Working with Children.
9 Vanistendael, S. Forthcoming. Resilience and
spirituality. bice publication in French, 2002, English
translation in preparation. See also: Vanistendael, S.
1995 Growth in the muddle of life. Resilience: Building
on people’s strengths. Geneva, International Catholic
Child Bureau.
10 ccf International/Child Fund Afghanistan. After the
Taliban: A child-focused assessment in the northern
Afghan provinces.
11 McCallin, M. 2004. Report on consultations with the
project staff. Geneva: International Catholic Child
Bureau.
12 Child participation is a theme that runs through the
articles in this edition of ecm, and it is an important
issue in rights-based programming. It was the subject
of ecm 103. Gerison Lansdown’s comprehensive review
in that issue of ecm is recommended for further
reading.
B e r n a r d v a n L e e r Fo u n d a t i o n 9 E a r l y C h i l d h o o d M a t t e r s • Ju l y 2 0 0 5